I thought it would be interesting to see what makes everyone post or not post when they see a photo here. Do you only look for certain subjects (people, landscapes, etc), are there subjects which bore you to tears? Do you only post if you have a critique, or do you post only when you have something positive to say, or a mixture of both? What makes you skip over a photo?

Actually, I had trouble recently getting more than one comment, and without some tricks like bumping them up, some would have never gotten any comments since they went down the list too quickly and just were not seen anymore.

As for myself, there are many factors deciding if I will open a thread or not, and then, if I will comment or not. Most of the time, if I had a look, I leave a comment, unless ... well unless I cannot think of a comment without being rude, and I need to have the time to comment, and well, if the image is really complicated, I only coment over a bottle of wine

But what makes me open a thread and have a look? Well, first of all, if in a hurry, I only open threads which sound easy enough, good for a quick comment.

Further, I hardly ever open threads which promise to contain images of spouses, pets, babies. These things are always complicated to comment on since the OP usually takes answers personally

Then, it depends on the mood. I have not commented in the landscape section for ages .. because I did this ALOT half a year and longer ago. This mood will come back though. Then there are other areas which I currently like to comment on. It varies so much with me

There are times, when I just go for the zero-reply-threads... or when I just go down the list and try to comment every thread

I almost never give critique. I have to really be moved to speak-in a good way or bad.

In my opinion the only critique that matters is from the person who did the work. You have a separate physical object to view, does it do what you intended? If not, why not? What is it about the different parts of it that fail to move you in the way you wanted to be moved?

Whatever it's shortcomings or strengths, judge your own work because it is your own voice that you are trying to refine. And, when you are finished do you really want to look, or sound, like anyone else?

Can you imagine the world if Picasso had spent his life trying to paint like Renoir? What will the world be like without your voice?

Can you imagine the world if Picasso had spent his life trying to paint like Renoir? What will the world be like without your voice?

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well, but that does not mena that artists are generally not interested in what other think of their work, and how they would have done it. Listening to others does not mean you have to adopt what they say, but it helps to understand one's own work better in the end.

Hey Alex, you do the same as I do sometimes (given I am not suffering from total internet-fatigue, which I have meanwhile overcome, but did suffer from earlier, as you know) - also I sometimes go to the forums and specifically look for 0 reply posts (even back to Pages 3 or 4) and give those people at least that one reply.

Often I later find that with my boost, the thread finally becomes "a starter".

Apart from that specific thing (which I don't do every day, I need to be in the mood for doing that), I try to see as much as I possibly can on here, and comment as often as possible, too. And for me, commenting does not mean I put a "Awesome" there, or anything that short. I usually try to say something, speak to the poster, start a conversation with him/her. I find, places like this one are all about communication, I love to communicate with people, and I enjoy the fact that communication here is enhanced by the photos (i.e. some illustration) that people post.

There are subjects that don't interest me as much.
Car photography is just not so much my cup of tea, probably because cars are just a means of transport for me, but I don't see their being desirable objects of beauty or so (female here, see?).

And sometimes I have a hard time with real and true snapshots that look it ... and when I am NOT in the mood, I really can't think of what to say then. And before I say something mean, I better not say anything. Unless I can think of some SUGGESTIONS on how to take better photos of the kind (of one's kids or so) in the future, taking the presented pics as example, I often better skip those.

However, should I see on the following day that no one said anything, I sometimes make the efford to say something, after all.

For I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be not to get any comments. And even the "Good shot" comments are frustrating to me. They go very much against my primary intention here, which is communication.

Mood is also a factor for me. Sometimes I'm just browsing and looking at other's work... like in a gallery. But even then an image will be special to me and I'll give some comments. Specially when an image makes me think or maybe invent a story behind it.

For me, I will go to the zero replies threads first, as I know how it feels to not have any replies to something. Then I'll go to the people pictures, since posing is what I'm really working on now. Next, I'll browse the landscapes section and reply to those which bring about a strong emotion in me or are really well done. Most "tourist shots" will be ignored by me, as will badly composed/photographed "this is my dog/kid" pictures. Humorous photos will almost always bring a response from me. I tend to go easier on the members who have few posts when I critique their work. I don't want to scare them away.

I tend to skip it if there is more than one shot. Same if it is a shot that belongs in the trashcan or has no real centre of interest. I will also skip a photo with major framing or distortion mistakes which should have been corrected before posting. Same with any poster who claims that his mistakes are intentional. I will also skip photos from those who should not be posting in Critical Analysis and by that I mean those that don't seem to have sufficient knowledge to understand a critique. Same with photos where my view would be too subjective.

Anyway, I got a bit frustrated recently when commenting after others had commented, then the OP commented those comments. And then the OP apparently never ever re-opened that thread and my lengthy comment went totally un-noticed

It is a tough world, for chatterboxes alike.
There are ever soooo many threads on this very TPF in which I feel and have felt totally ignored by the others, like I spoke to the wall, while everyone around me talks to each other. It seems to happen. It brings me down on occasion, and it has made me stop posting as many photos as I once use to post (and I do think twice or three times before I now show a photo!), but I still post some and am learning to be glad when two or three look at them and say something about them.